


A Foxy Incident

by demesh



Series: The Rob Chronicles [2]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andrew's having a crisis, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Everybody Panics, I'm sleep deprived, M/M, Neil is magically turned into a fox, but it is post canon, i don't think this is canon compliant, if you couldn't already tell, the occult?, there is a cult, this is the weirdest thing I've written yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28535118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demesh/pseuds/demesh
Summary: Allison picked up the paper and cleared her throat. Even Andrew straightened, paying full attention as she read Neil’s explanation out loud.“A cult kidnapped me and turned me into a fox for their ritual,” she read. “But I ran away before they could finish it.”Matt frowned at Neil. “What do you mean, a cult kidnapped you?”Neil did the fox-version of shrugging, and let out a short bark. Allison set the paper down for him to write again.When he was done, she picked it up again and read. “They wanted the order to reinstate.”“Dude, that explains, like, literally nothing,” Nicky said.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: The Rob Chronicles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2080380
Comments: 38
Kudos: 113





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *throws this at you* enjoy.

It was a rainy night, because everything that goes wrong always goes wrong on rainy nights.

It was a week before finals. Neil had gone to the library to study, and from here to there has found himself standing on its doorstep with his brain fried from numbers, clutching one strap of his backpack and staring at the pouring rain. He blinked occasionally when water sprayed on his face.

He could call Andrew, he thought to himself. But it was kind of the middle of the night, and he wasn’t _that_ far from Fox Tower — well, yes, it was on the other end of the campus, but at least it was _in_ the campus. He could run it.

He debated it for a few moments, before deciding that Kevin will kill him for running in the rain so close before a game, and Andrew will kill him for not having called him. Not wanting to die, twice over even less, he searched his pockets for his phone.

“Ah, fuck,” he breathed, his nose twitching at the cold. He pulled his backpack off his shoulder and searched it as well, but he couldn’t find his phone anywhere.

Then he suddenly remembered that he’d left it to charge at Fox Tower, with full intent to take it before leaving, believe it or not. But then he just, you know, didn’t. “Ah, fuck.”

Guess he was going to have to make a run for it.

So he did. He was soaked in a millisecond, sneezing halfway through the campus. He could see Fox Tower not too far ahead, but when he started crossing the road to get there, a thunder crackled overhead, sinking out what he later realized was the blare of a horn.

There was a flash of light, overhead and on the road, and Neil barely managed to skid out of the way of the van in time. He turned around, about to yell at whomever the crazy driver was to watch it, when he realized the van stopped.

Another thunder crackled overhead, and suddenly he saw three people climbing out of the vehicle.

He would’ve just walked away had they not looked so out of place. Neil wasn’t very judgmental, of looks least of all; he, himself, hated it when people stared at his scars. But he hadn’t survived on his own so long without learning to notice when something was _off_ about someone.

They all wore gray robes, for one thing. And they were all looking at him — definitely at him, since there was nobody else around.

And then they started walking toward him.

Yeah, screw that.

He broke into a run at the opposite direction, only to see that there was another robe-wearing weirdo blocking his path. He was about to turn and run in a random, free direction, when he suddenly halted, realizing he was surrounded.

“Hey, guys,” he said, putting his hands up placatedly. “Let’s talk this out. I don’t want any trouble.”

“Neil Josten,” said one of the robe-wearing weirdos — one of the original trio, who also happened to be wearing an ominous hat. “Of the Palmetto Foxes.”

Oh, great. They were _exy_ fans. “Uh,” Neil said, looking around. He very much did _not_ like being cornered like that; he couldn’t possibly keep eyes on them all at once. But, since the hat-and-robe-wearing weirdo seemed to be their leader (Neil knew because of the hat, obviously), they remained fixated in their places. “If you guys want autographs or something—“

The leader put his hands together in a prayer-esc gesture and looked up at the pouring sky. “Let the order reinstate.”

Neil didn’t like the sound of that. But before he could find a way out of here, someone grabbed him from behind, pressing a chloroformed cloth to his nose and mouth.

Neil struggled, but his movements quickly turned sluggish. He faintly heard the wet thump of his backpack hitting the pavement, and when his knees gave out on him, he felt himself being hauled up and dragged away.

Alarms blared in his head. _Bad bad bad need to call Andrew—_

There was a metallic creak as the door of the van opened, and Neil was shoved inside. And then, as the door was shut and darkness met him, he passed out.

***

Neil groaned before he opened his eyes.

His muscles were sore. His headache was something _else_. And, strangely, he was particularly parched.

He cracked open his eyes, squinting at the light. There wasn’t much of it; it was yellow and soft, and threw heavy shadows at the ground. He was sitting on a chair. Frowning slightly, he lifted his head, and pulled his hands — only to be met with resistance.

He groaned again. The timing was awful, really. His finals were literally _next week_.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” said a low, gravelly voice. Neil squinted ahead at the figure sitting in a chair in front of him, who, unlike himself, was free of any restraints.

“Lemme go,” he said, his voice sounding too loopy for his liking. He didn’t think he sounded very intimidating. Where’s Andrew when he’s needed? “Imma make you regret this.”

“We’ve been waiting for you,” said the man. It was the hat-man. Leader Guy. “Now, the time has finally come.”

“What the hell are you talking about,” Neil muttered, pulling again. Man, he was _tired_. His mind started absentmindedly fiddling with numbers, like it did when he was about to fall asleep after having studied a bit too much. “Lemme go, you fucking weirdo.”

Leader Guy stood up, and for a second Neil thought he’s actually convinced him; but then Leader Guy started pacing, and Neil groaned again, his head lulling.

“Now the ritual will finally be completed,” Leader Guy said.

When the door opened and the rest of the cult — it had to be a cult, right? — came in, Neil suddenly became a whole lot more alert. he tugged at his restraints again, and, pulling at his legs, found that they were also tied; the ropes weren’t too tight, but there were way too many people in the room to allow him a swift escape. Or any escape at all, for that matter.

Leader Guy pulled a leather-bound book out of his robes, opened it on what looked to Neil like a completely random page, and began chanting. The rest of the cult joined in, one by one, until the air was heavy with the sounds, and Neil felt something prickle at the back of his neck.

“Lemme go, you freaks,” he snarled, pulling again. Leader Guy stepped closer to him, not lifting his eyes from the book. Another man stepped forward and sprinkled something on him, making Neil sneeze. The hell _was_ that?

The chanting abruptly stopped, and everyone looked to Neil. Neil squirmed under the attention, fruitlessly pulling his hands again. “Did it fail?” he asked. Then, just so that everyone was on the same page, added, “I hope it failed.”

But Leader Guy grinned at him from under the hat. Neil looked back warily.

And then he felt it. It was sudden. Like, startlingly so. One moment he was sitting on the chair, looking at the guy’s face, and the next he was _standing_ on it, his horizon drastically dropping.

He let out a startled squeak. Then he let out another startled squeak at the sound he, himself, has made; he turned this and that way, seeing the exhilarated expressions of an entire cult of weirdos looking down at him.

Okay. So whatever they were doing succeeded, and now Neil was, he was… He wasn’t sure yet, but he didn’t dwell on it. Solve the problem, then figure out what’s going on. One thing these guys clearly haven’t thought of was that whatever they did, it’d gotten him free of his binds.

He lunged at them, instincts kicking in. He quickly found that instead of hands, he had paws. And instead of legs, he also had paws. So he couldn’t throw a punch. Whatever; he wasn’t good at hand-to-hand combat anyway. What he did have, though, was his mouth; a quick lick of his teeth revealed that they have sharpened, and really, that was all he needed.

He bit Leader Guy in the calf, and that yelped and dropped his book. Neil evaded the raining pages, then lunged at another cultist, biting him as well. There were screams of panic and blurs of movement, robes swishing around as some bolted and others remained to fight; one guy made grabby hands at him, but the second he laid a hand on Neil’s fur — he had fur, what the fuck — Neil bit his hand, hard.

There was blood in his mouth. Yack.

Neil wasn’t panicking. He was too busy fighting for his freedom to do that.

From here to there, he managed to find the exit, and sprinted out of the room. Then he found his way out of the building. Whatever has happened to him, it didn’t take away his speed; if anything, he was now faster, smaller, and harder to catch. He left behind a trail of cultists either bleeding or scrambling after him. But he didn’t slow down.

He broke out into the rainy night, and ran until he couldn’t hear the scuffle of footsteps behind him. When he stopped, by the empty road, he was heaving like a madman.

He calmed down and assessed his surroundings. He had to find his way back home. Then, with Andrew’s help, he’ll figure out what the hell was wrong with him, and everything will be fixed.

Luckily, he recognized the road signs. He wasn’t too far away from Fox Tower, but in his newfound pace, it would probably take him a couple hours to get there.

He sighed.

And he started walking.

***

Andrew wasn’t panicking.

Neil was missing, _again_ , and Andrew wasn’t panicking. Not at all.

He’d come across Neil’s bag by accident, of all things. He’d been on his way back from a therapy session with Bee — alone this time, seeing as Aaron was busy sacrificing goats for a chance to pass his finals — and had seen it lying by the road.

It was barely a glance, and at first, Andrew thought he must be getting paranoid about his Junkie getting kidnapped and almost murdered. Sue him; it wasn’t like it hadn’t happened before. But he stopped the car and went to check it out, just in case.

Up close, even under the pouring rain, he instantly recognized it.

He was thrown back to the last time that had happened, seeing an exy court instead of a deserted road, a phone and keys and a sports bag that wouldn’t have ever been left alone. There was noise around him; people yelling, shoving, pushing; a mayhem that couldn’t be pinpointed. His blood was rushing in his ears, and he looked around him, searching for Neil.

But around him was an empty road, not a court; and the mayhem wasn’t but the ringing of his own phone, vibrating in his pocket.

Andrew didn’t look away from Neil’s backpack as he pulled out his phone and answered the call. “What.”

“ _Is Neil with you?_ ” it was Kevin, sounding agitated. “ _We were supposed to go over the recording of our last match, and he’s, like, two hours late, and I can find him literally nowhere. His phone’s here, too. Neil, if you’re there, I want you to know that you’re a jackass—_ “

“He isn’t here,” Andrew flatly said, fiddling with one of the backpack’s straps. He unzipped the main compartment, finding only a bunch of study materials. “You said he didn’t take his phone?”

“ _Yeah, it’s charging,_ ” Kevin said. “ _I mean, I took it out already, but it was charging before._ ”

Andrew let out a long, measured sigh, trying to rack his brain for solutions. There had to be some reasonable explanation that wasn’t a recap of Neil’s first kidnapping. There _had_ to be something. All of Neil’s father’s associates were either dead or in jail; they couldn’t have gotten out to get him, could they? But then again, that was what they’d thought back _then_.

Andrew looked around him again, and his gaze fell on something orange peeking out from between a few trees. He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what it was, when a fox suddenly jumped out and raced straight at him.

“Rob?” Andrew found himself saying. Rob was their exy mascot, and the only Fox on the team that was an actual fox — but she rarely went anywhere by herself anymore. “What are you doing here?”

“ _What does Rob have to do with this?”_ Kevin complained in his ear. Andrew hung up on him, shoved the phone in his pocket and picked up Neil’s backpack. But as the fox got closer, Andrew could see it wasn’t Rob; Rob was slimmer and slightly smaller, even though this new fox wasn’t too big, either. Now that Andrew was really looking, its fur was also redder.

With the ferocity it launched itself at him, Andrew thought it might have rabies; he stepped back out of instinct, and once he did, the fox suddenly halted.

It looked up at him and barked, stance still vigilant, clear blue eyes wide and bewildered.

“Are you lost?” Andrew asked it. The fox barked again, before breaking into a bark sequence that had Andrew frowning. He looked around him again, but he and the fox seemed to be the only living creatures out here.

And then the fox leaped up to him, claws grabbing a hold of the backpack and tearing it free of Andrew’s grasp. Andrew tried snatching it back, but the fox dragged it away; before Andrew could react, the fox dragged out a notebook, and used a paw to open it.

Andrew watched, stupefied, as the fox struggled to turn the pages with its _paws_. Finally, it stopped, dragged the notebook toward Andrew via its teeth, and barked up at him.

Andrew stared at the fox. The fox nudged the notebook forward, then tapped its paw on something scribbled at the top of the page.

_Property of Neil Josten._

Andrew blinked, and looked around him again. Maybe he was dreaming. That made sense; he couldn’t count the amount of times he’s dreamt of Neil getting kidnapped again, and then, you know, brutally murdered in front of him — and an oddly cognizant fox was far from the weirdest thing to have plagued his dreams.

The fox tapped the name again and barked twice, maintaining eye contact with Andrew. When Andrew didn’t stir, it broke into vehement barks and tapped Neil’s name in rapid succession, before gesturing its paw at itself.

Okay. So Andrew was dreaming of Neil as a fox now. Everything was cool. Everything was fine. He was probably calling Bee when he woke up.

For now, though, he sat down. The pavement was cold and wet and dirty, but Neil the fox saw it as the gesture that it was, and approached him, relief somehow clear on his face. His snout.

Because he had a snout.

Andrew picked up Neil the fox and put him in his lap. “What did you get yourself into this time, Junkie?”

Neil the fox started barking at him, and when he kept barking and barking with almost cartoonish expressiveness, Andrew realized he was actually trying to tell him. The only problem was that Andrew didn’t speak Fox.

So Andrew stared at him blankly until Neil realized his mistake and snapped his mouth shut. He let out a low, desperate whine, and buried his fox-face in Andrew’s shirt.

Andrew, at a complete loss of what to do, blinked at the nothing in particular. It kind of tickled, if he were being honest. And it was seriously adorable. He would’ve _aww_ ed had he not been dead inside.

Instead, he patted Neil’s fluffy fox-head, hearing Neil sniff.

Andrew’s brain shut down when Neil started purring.

***

Kevin was officially sick of living when he saw Andrew bursting into their dorm room, carrying yet _another_ fox in his arms.

“I don’t care what Neil says, we are _not_ keeping another fox in here,” Kevin proclaimed before Andrew even had the time to shut the door behind him. Andrew shot him a glare and stalked across the room before sitting on Neil’s bed.

“This _is_ Neil,” he said, gesturing his head at the sleeping fox in his arms. Kevin mock laughed at him and walked into the kitchen.

A minute later he walked back into the room, a dismayed expression on his face and an unopened bio-something-something yogurt in his hand. “You’re joking, right?”

Andrew looked at him unblinkingly. The fox in his arms let out a low, whistling snore, and both boys looked down at it. It shifted in Andrew’s arms, squishing its nose harder against Andrew’s shirt. Andrew patted its head once and looked back up at Kevin, who stared at the fox with skeptical eyes. “It’s impossible.”

“Obviously,” Andrew said without explaining further.

“But—“ Kevin started, then fell silent. A few seconds passed before he finished his thought. “But Neil’s a _person_. And this is a fox.”

Andrew shrugged.

Kevin left the room once again. When he came back, a bottle of whisky took the yogurt’s place. Kevin sat down on the bed next to Andrew, poured a little whisky into a plastic cup, and handed it to Andrew. Andrew instantly knocked it back.

Kevin poured some more into Andrew’s cup, and then into his own plastic cup. “What are we gonna do?”

Andrew let Neil the fox, who’s woken up, sniff the whisky. Neil crinkled his nose, which made Andrew shrug and knock it back himself. “I’ve no clue.”

That was when Andrew’s elbow knocked into the edge of the bunk-bed’s beam. He froze in his place, and, to Kevin’s curious look, slowly turned his head to the beam. “Ow.”

Kevin frowned. Andrew dropped his eyes to look at Neil the fox, then blinked twice, before something somber invaded his face. “Fuck. This is real, isn’t it.”

“That’s just it,” Kevin said. “I don’t think it is.”

“But I’m not dreaming.”

“Maybe the agriculture undergrads accidentally set fire to their final project again,” Kevin suggested. They both sniffed the air, and Kevin shook his head contemplatively. They’ve both arrived at the same conclusion, though just looking at the closed window could’ve told them that.

Kevin sighed and poured him and Andrew whisky shots. Neil the fox laughed at them in the incredibly jeering way of foxes, at which Kevin knocked back another shot with lightning speed. “Shut up, you asshole.”

Neil the fox barked at him gleefully, and Andrew snorted and proceeded to knock back another shot of his own.

It wasn’t long until the bottle was empty. It wasn’t long at all.

***

The foxes of Fox Tower, those not wasted or currently foxes, stood at the threshold of Neil, Andrew and Kevin’s room.

“Why is Andrew drunk in the middle of the day?” Nicky asked. Andrew turned to him with a glower that had them all shifting away and slurred something incomprehensible, before turning and punching the wall. Flecks of plaster crumbled away.

Nicky stared at him wide-eyed. “… _Neat in the box_? What?”

Matt peeked his head in. “I think he said, _Nick in the lock_.”

Nicky frowned at him. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“And who’s Nick?” added Dan.

“Kevin, did you recruit someone without telling us again?” Matt yelled into the room, presumably at the corner where Kevin sat slumped, hugging an empty bottle of whisky. Kevin lifted round eyes to him and shook his head.

“ _Neil_ ,” Andrew angrily slurred, raising his voice, “s’fox.”

“I think Andrew’s lost it,” Nicky muttered.

“Oh, only now?” Allison sneered at him.

“Guys, guys, let’s do this like civil people,” Dan said, spreading her arms in a peace-maker gesture. She turned her attention back to Andrew, who’s leaned the back of his head against the wall and somehow managed to look down at them all despite being generally much shorter. “Where’s Neil?”

Andrew and Kevin simultaneously pointed to the fox perched on Neil’s bed.

“That’s Rob,” Aaron flatly said.

“How much have they had to drink?” muttered Dan.

And at that moment, Rob climbed out from under the bed. To the astonishment of the Foxes, she leisurely stalked toward Robbie, the resident massive fox plushie sitting by the T.V., and flopped down against it. Everybody looked back at the fox perched on the bed, who barked at them.

“Wait,” Nicky said. “If Rob’s there…”

“Then who’s _that_?” Allison said, looking at the fox. Andrew sighed, and Kevin let out a groan of pure, unadulterated despair.

“It’s _Neil_ ,” he said, voice surprisingly un-slurred. “Neil is _a fox_.”

“Kevin, but that’s impossible,” said Nicky.

“Tell that to Neil, who’s a fox!” Kevin exclaimed, wildly gesturing at the bed with Neil on it. “He can even solve math problems and everything! Believe me, we’ve checked.”

“You didn’t do _jack_ ,” Andrew called out.

“I brought the damn whisky, so _shut up_.”

“I don’t follow,” Matt muttered.

“Maybe they’re telling the truth,” suggested Renee. Everybody turned to look at where she was standing behind them, outside the room. “How often do you see Andrew getting drunk?”

“Never,” said Aaron.

“And Neil’s nowhere to be found, too,” added Matt. They all turned their attentions back to the fox, eyes narrow and suspicious. Andrew and Kevin were arguing loudly, but nobody paid them any mind anymore.

This was crazy.

But it was also Neil they were talking about. If something like that would happen to anybody, it would happen to him.

In the end, they decided to test it. Allison searched the drawers in search of Neil’s math textbook while Dan fetched a pencil and paper; Nicky picked up the fox — Neil? — and gently set him down on the writing desk. The textbook was open on a math problem, and the pencil and paper were both in easy reach.

The fox sighed, before picking up the pencil with its mouth and approaching the textbook. They all watched as it seemingly read the question, and, to their astonishment, started scribbling something on the paper.

Ten minutes later, they have all been laid witness to the first fox in the world’s history (probably) to have solved a logarithmic equation.

“Fuck me sideways,” Nicky muttered, eyes wide and voice shocked. “Neil, is that really you?”

The fox — Neil — nodded vehemently, before spitting out the pencil so that it hit Kevin’s head. Kevin swore at him, but otherwise didn’t move.

“That’s Neil alright,” Allison said, a hand over her gaping mouth. Dan clutched hard onto her forearm, while Matt and Aaron both stared in stoic awe.

“How did that even happen?” Renee asked. Despite her generally calm exterior, she stood very still, looking slightly alarmed.

“Tr’d,” Andrew slurred, now sitting on the bed Neil’s vacated, “to ask, b’t I don’t f’ckin’ speak _Fox_."

“But he can write,” Allison noted. Neil the fox lifted his eyes to her in what seemed to be an eureka moment, before starting to bark in Kevin’s direction. Kevin searched around for the pencil that’s been spat at him and threw it in the table’s general direction, which promptly landed the pencil in the trash bin.

Neil barked at him indignantly.

Matt quickly found another pencil and set it down on the table. Under the logarithmic equation, Neil started scribbling frantically. When he was done, he set the pencil down and tried to push the page in their direction.

Allison picked up the paper and cleared her throat. Even Andrew straightened, paying full attention as she read Neil’s explanation out loud.

“A cult kidnapped me and turned me into a fox for their ritual,” she read. “But I ran away before they could finish it.”

Matt frowned at Neil. “What do you mean, a cult kidnapped you?”

Neil did the fox-version of shrugging, and let out a short bark. Allison set the paper down for him to write again.

When he was done, she picked it up again and read. “They wanted the order to reinstate.”

“Dude, that explains, like, literally nothing,” Nicky said.

“And you also misspelt _reinstate_ ,” Allison said, looking up at Neil. Neil somehow managed to glare at her, at which the words died on her tongue, and she put the paper down.

“Do we… what do we do?” Dan asked. Kevin looked up to her, staggeringly standing up with his hand supported against the wall.

“We thought maybe we could wait it out,” he said. “Maybe it’ll wear off at some point.”

Neil the fox picked up the pencil and wrote something down. Allison picked it up. “But I have exams next week. I’ll be kicked out if I don’t show up to any of them.”

All the faces in the room paled, save for Andrew’s. Andrew was now lying on Neil’s bed, staring at the wooden bottom of his own bed above it. “Then we have to find a way to turn him back.”

“But how are we going to do that?” asked Matt.

Surprisingly, it was Aaron who spoke up. “I’ve got an idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this one!! There will be three chapters total for this. Will update eventually. Thank you for reading <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, googling: can... foxes... snicker..?  
> Google: I know EXACTLY what you're asking. *proceeds to give me a video of a Russian man feeding snickers to a fox*  
> Me: not what I meant but thanks.
> 
> Please enjoy this chapter! It turned out extra long :D

Everyone’s attention was on Aaron, who was just coming back from his own room, having fetched what turned out to be a business card.

The rest of the Foxes were scattered around the room; Neil the fox was back on his bed, resting against Andrew as that sat perched against the pillow; Kevin stayed in his place, though Matt had taken his whisky bottle and thrown it away; the girls occupied Kevin’s bed, staring at Neil with small smiles on their faces; and Nicky, sole and lonesome, has claimed one of the beanbags, trying to lure Rob onto his lap.

“So,” Aaron started, looking at Neil, “you said it was a cult that did this, right?”

Neil nodded.

“And let me guess,” Aaron continued. “They all wore long, gray robes, drove around in a white van, and their leader had a weird-ass hat. Right?”

Neil nodded again, mouth slightly agape. The rest of the room’s occupants gave Aaron curious looks, until Dan asked the inevitable question. “How did you know?”

“Because I’ve met them before.” Aaron lifted his business card so that the information faced them, but it was too small and Aaron was too far away for any of them to read it. “They’ve been approaching med students for the last couple of weeks, trying to sell us dark magic that would guarantee us good grades without the headache-inducing hell we’re currently living in.”

“Cheer up, Aaron,” Nicky said, voice teasing. “You’ll get wrinkles like that.”

Aaron shot him an unappreciative look. “Seeing as none of us are stupid—“ he ignored Andrew’s small snort— “we all drew the obvious conclusion that they were some pranksters with too much time on their hands.”

“You thought they were lying,” Allison said. Aaron nodded, and looked down at his card.

“When their leader spoke to me, he gave me this card with his contact info. Said that I was welcome to reconsider any time.”

“And now we can call them,” Andrew said, looking intently at his brother. Aaron nodded yet again. “And demand that they reverse whatever they’ve done.”

“If they can,” said Kevin.

“Of course they can,” objected Dan. “It’s their, erm, ritual that’s done this in the first place.”

“And it’s not like Neil can stay a fox forever,” added Matt, who was leaning against the desk with his arms crossed. He looked to Neil, who sheepishly looked back, almost as if he, too, were worried. “Can he?”

“We can’t know for sure,” Aaron reluctantly said. Everybody turned their attentions back to him, and he shrugged. “I mean, I don’t _think_ so, but there are plenty of cases of irreversible procedures. Medically speaking.”

Everybody suddenly looked a whole lot more worried, except for Andrew, whose expression just went completely blank. Neil poked his snout at his chin, but Andrew didn’t react, only looked ahead at Aaron.

He abruptly stood up, gently picking Neil up from his lap and placing him back on the bed, before striding over to Aaron. He snatched the business card out of his hand, examined it, and left the room.

Aaron frowned, then quickly followed.

He caught up to Andrew by the staircase, the other holding his phone and dialing the number out of the business card. Noticing Aaron’s approach, he put it on speaker; it rang a few times before the call was picked up.

A staticky, distorted voice responded. “ _Dark Rituals™ costumer service, how can I help you today?_ ”

Andrew and Aaron exchanged looks, before Andrew shifted the phone closer to Aaron, gesturing his head for him to speak. Aaron’s mind fumbled momentarily to hold onto coherent thought. “Uh, um, hey, I’m a student at Palmetto. I heard you can help me pass my finals?”

Aaron cringed at the squeaky, uncertain quality his own voice had, and saw Andrew discreetly rolling his eyes. There was the sound of pages flapping from the other side.

“ _Palmetto State University?_ ” said the distorted voice. Aaron nodded, before remembering that this was a phone call.

“Yeah, I’m from the med department.”

“ _I see, I see,_ ” said the voice. “ _I will need a name and an address._ ”

“Address? Why an address?”

“ _A representative of Dark Rituals™ Services will come to perform the ritual in up to seven business days,_ ” said the voice. “ _Payment only in cash, depends on the caliber of the ritual ordered. What Dark Ritual™ caliber do you wish to have performed for you?_ ”

Aaron lifted startled eyes to Andrew and mouthed, ‘what do I tell him?’

Andrew shrugged and mouthed back, ‘highest’.

“Highest?” Aaron said, intonation accidentally higher than he’s intended.

“ _Ohh, well then_ ,” said the voice. “ _Always glad to hear from an enthusiast. In this case, payment will be settled between you and the representative. Every employee has a different price for risks like that._ ”

“Uh, okay,” Aaron said. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to know what the highest Dark Ritual™ caliber for passing his finals was, but that bridge will be crossed later. Hopefully never.

“ _Now, I will need your name and address,_ ” said the voice, repeating his earlier request. Aaron gave him a fake name but the actual address of his room at Fox Tower.

“ _Thank you for choosing Dark Rituals™,_ ” said the voice. “ _Have a nice day._ ”

Aaron barely managed to get a, “you too,” in there before the call disconnected.

Andrew shoved the phone in his back pocket and looked up at Aaron. He turned around and, without saying anything, stalked back into his room.

***

Until the Dark Rituals _™_ representative was to arrive, Neil could do nothing but wait.

Which was how he found himself waking up the next morning, curled onto and held tight like a teddy-bear by Andrew, who was fast asleep in Neil’s bed. It was warm and cozy and comfortable, so he didn’t want to move. And so he didn’t.

His plan for the foreseeable future was to stay right here and keep being hugged like a teddy bear, because it was oddly comforting. After the panic and the craziness of the previous day, topped with the uncertainty of whether he was doomed to lead the rest of his life as a fox, being held tightly and securely was a comfort. And by Andrew, no less.

They snuggled sometimes, don’t get him wrong; but apparently, being small and fuzzy made it ten times better.

It didn’t take long, however, for Andrew to wake up. He blinked at Neil, a blank sort of calm look in his eyes, and shifted slightly before closing them again. Neil let out a small bark.

Andrew’s eyes flashed open, the calm instantly deteriorating as he sat up, looked around him, and looked back at Neil. Neil barked at him inquiringly, tilting his head; at that, Andrew leaned back and let out a groan, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes. “It wasn’t a dream.”

Neil barked a ‘ _no, unfortunately_ ’, but it came out sounding like just a regular bark.

Andrew opened his eyes and looked down at him again; Neil was sitting in front of him, his tail subconsciously wagging as it repeatedly hit the mattress. He gave Andrew a very intent, human look, at which Andrew let out a long sigh.

“Why do I feel hungover,” he muttered, reaching out for the bedside table. He opened a drawer with more force than necessary and searched blindly, before pulling out a bottle of Aspirin. He swallowed a few pills dry and scrambled out of bed, shuffling like a zombie towards the bathroom; the slam of the door that followed was loud enough to wake up anyone who thought sleeping in this early morning hour would be a nice thing to do.

One such someone was Rob. She sprang out from under the bed at the slam, only belatedly realizing that it wasn’t an emergency, no one was dying, everything was fine. She turned back around to crawl under the bed anew, but then suddenly froze.

Neil sat on the bed, looking down at her. She stood on the floor, looking up at him. They were both frozen. Both had their minds reeling, red buttons pushing, alarms blaring; what were they supposed to do? There was no protocol for this!

“Hi,” Neil finally said, hesitant. Rob tilted her head, and for a second he thought that she couldn’t understand him — but then her ears erected, and she stepped closer.

“Neil?” she said, her tail wagging. There was a curious look in her eyes. “Is that really you?”

Neil nodded, still hesitant. She crept even closer, before springing up onto the bed without warning; Neil stumbled back, startled. “You can understand me,” he said.

“You speak my language,” she replied, leaning closer as if to inspect his fur. Neil suddenly felt self-consciences — but his worry turned out to be for nought, since the eyes she lifted up to him were sparkling with wonder. “Inconceivable.”

“That it is,” Neil agreed, letting out a huff that came out as a foxy giggle. The tension in the air lifted, and Rob smiled at him, revealing teeth. There was raw excitement in the gesture, and Neil found himself wagging his tail excitedly.

Little did they know, this was the start of a wonderful friendship.

The thing about unexpected supernatural phenomena, such as an exy player being turned into a red fox, was that it wasn’t a plausible enough reason to postpone, say, an exy match that said exy player was supposed to play in.

Which meant that morning practice was still mandatory. Yes, even for Neil.

“But I’m a fox, Kevin,” Neil had tried to argue. But it was useless; Kevin couldn’t understand him. Instead, Kevin, being Kevin, took it as enthusiastic cooperation.

That was how Neil ended up sulking on the bench next to the court’s entrance, Rob by his side.

“It isn’t such a bad thing,” she said as they gazed at the empty field. Neil turned sad eyes to her.

“I can’t play,” he said. “For all I know, if I can’t be turned back, I’ll never be able to play exy again.”

“But that’s not true, is it?” she countered. Dan pet her head as she passed by them, sending Neil an apologetic smile and mouthing _sorry_. Rob soaked in the pet before continuing. “You can play exy the Rob Way.”

Neil’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “The Rob Way?”

Rob grinned at him in a foxy manner, and they both turned to watch as Kevin walked by them, adjusting something in his racket. He was about to go on peacefully when he suddenly noticed the two foxes observing him, and he pulled back slightly, a worried frown crossing his features. “Why are you two looking at me like that?”

Neil felt the moment Rob’s words clicked. _The Rob Way_. A mischievous glint invaded his eyes, making Kevin step onto the court and away from them. “Whatever you’re planning, leave me out of it.”

“Sure, Kevin,” Neil told him. Even though Kevin couldn’t understand him, his worry visibly deepened. “I’m just going to play exy. Can’t neglect practicing, after all.”

Rob giggled beside him. Kevin looked from Neil to Rob and back, before slowly backing away farther into the court.

Neil waited until the rest of the team was out on the court before jumping down from the bench, Rob on his heels, and they both stepped onto the court. They treaded next to the plexiglass, observing as a scrimmage commenced; Neil caught sight of a lax-looking Andrew standing in the goal, his racket not even raised. Andrew saw him looking at him, gaze hanging on the two foxes for a few moments, before turning his attention back to the scrimmage.

They were standing a few feet from Andrew’s goal when Rob spoke up. “Do what you do best, Neil.”

Kevin was running up to the goal, ball in his racket and not paying attention to them. Neil gave Rob a curt nod, and she pushed him with her paw toward the field. He didn’t need much more prompting.

Right when Kevin was about to throw the ball in the goal, Neil sprang forward, cutting into his path. Kevin startled, stumbled, and swore — and Neil, dirty plays not beneath him, took the chance to leap up and tackle the ball out of his racket.

The ball fell, but Neil caught it midair with his mouth; he could hear cheers and laughter around him, as well as Kevin’s swears. But they both knew that he has brought this on himself.

Neil looked to Kevin to make sure he was aware of his malicious intent, and darted across the court before Kevin even stepped toward him. He was fast, one of the fastest players the exy sport has known; as a fox, he was unbeatable.

On his tenth step, he threw the ball to Matt, who he had previously observed was not on Kevin’s team. Matt scored. Everybody except Kevin and Andrew cheered. Kevin, because he was devastated; Andrew, as far as Neil could tell, seemed amused, but that might’ve been a trick of the light, so Neil didn’t jump to conclusions.

“Neil, you’re my hero,” Nicky said, wiping an imaginary tear. He crouched down in front of him and rubbed his back affectionately. Neil gave him a toothy grin, wagging his tail.

“He’s so cute,” Allison said, her voice melting. Dan nodded in agreement beside her; when Neil looked up at them and barked, their faces both broke into wide smiles. “How can he look so evil and so cute at the same time?”

“I’m only doing what’s right. Kevin deserves what’s coming to him,” Neil explained. Rob laughed from somewhere, but except for her, no one could understand him. Didn’t stop them all from nodding enthusiastically, though.

“This is a _foul_ ,” Kevin exclaimed, only now approaching them. His expression was bitter and upset. “Neil wasn’t even a member of any team.”

“That’s easily solvable,” said Renee.

“You’re the one who wanted him to practice, after all,” added Matt. Everybody, including Neil, nodded. Kevin’s expression turned skeptical.

“Rob should also play,” Neil said. When everybody incomprehensibly looked down at him, he left their company to jog up to Rob. To her he said, “you have to play.”

“With pleasure,” she said. The Foxes seemed to understand Neil’s intention when they both jogged back, and it wasn’t long before they were added to teams — Neil, to the one he’s included himself in, and Rob, to Kevin’s team. Both Neil and Rob were designated strikers.

The scrimmage recommenced.

It went as smoothly as an exy match with two foxes for players could go, which meant that it was absolutely chaotic. Neil and Rob ruled the court. Allison and Dan had the ultimate weakness of melting every time Neil did something even remotely cute, which he cunningly used to undermine their plays; Matt and Nicky kept fumbling around to catch Neil’s throws, which went wide more often than not, his perception being way off what he was used to; Renee protected her goal while Andrew merely kept his company; and Kevin?

Kevin suffered.

Every time he advanced toward the court, Neil would tackle the ball out of his racket, or trip him, or confuse him with faints; the end result was a Kevin that got more and more agitated, a Neil that got giddier and giddier, and a very proud Rob. But despite being proud of Neil for learning her ways faster than she had, she still had a single goal in mind: win the scrimmage.

That was how, one unfortunate play, Kevin found himself being tackled out of possession of the ball. Neil grabbed it with his teeth and set to dart toward the other side of the court, but then Rob leapt out at him from a blind spot, snatching the ball away. Neil didn’t give up, and chased after her; but Kevin was in the way. Rob jumped up at Kevin, trying to gain the high ground — but if there was one thing Neil wasn’t, it was a coward, so he jumped right after her.

Kevin yelped, dropping his racket. Rob and Neil chased each other on him, climbing on his back, shoulders, head, the ball dangerously flinging between the two of them.

“ANDREW!” Kevin yelled, for Andrew was the one closest to them. Andrew calmly observed them, leaning against the side of the goal with his racket propped against the ground. He tore open a bag of popcorn in front of Kevin’s incredulous eyes.

“Don’t just stand there!” Kevin yelled, yelping as Neil accidentally stepped on his nose. The monotone munch of popcorn was mockingly audible amid the chaos. “HELP ME!”

Neil finally managed to snatch the ball from Rob, who found herself etched to Kevin’s shirt and hanging by her claws. Neil grinned triumphantly from his position on Kevin’s back.

He and Andrew momentarily locked eyes, and Neil saw something akin to approval in there. Andrew was clearly enjoying the scrimmage, which was more than enough for Neil.

He sprang off of Kevin’s back. The startled striker lost his balance and fell backwards as Rob jumped off of him as well, sprinting after Neil. Neil stepped his tenth step and threw the ball at Renee’s goal from mid-court.

It would’ve been an impressive shot in normal circumstances. Now, half the players on the court involuntarily stopped and gaped as the ball flew right past Renee, and the goal lit up red.

Neil slowed to a stop, Rob halting a few feet behind him. But before anyone could cheer or comment, Wymack’s voice suddenly carried across the court, and everybody turned to where it came from.

Wymack was standing at the entrance, a perplexed expression on his face. “Can somebody tell me why the hell we have _another_ fox on the court?”

The Foxes were all gathered in the lounge room, scattered as per usual between the chairs and sofas. Neil was sitting in his usual place on the sofa, Rob next to him. They looked back and forth between Matt and Wymack — the former animatedly explaining, the latter gravely nodding.

“And a cult kidnapped him, and did this ritual on him, and turned him into a fox.”

“Mhhm.”

“And Andrew found him on the road, and he brought him back to Fox Tower, and we checked to see if it was really Neil — it really is, by the way, because we know for sure foxes can’t do math. I mean I’m pretty sure they can’t.”

“Mhhm.”

“And Aaron told us that he had contact with the cult that kidnapped Neil, since, you know, he’s a med student.”

“Mhhm.”

“And Andrew called them and they told him a representative will show up within a week and hopefully, by then, everything will go back to normal.”

Wymack put a hand against his chin, eyes narrowed. He looked to Neil. Then he buried his face in his hand with a heavy sigh. “I don’t get paid enough for this.”

“I know, Coach,” Matt said, smiling apologetically.

“It won’t hinder our performance during Friday’s match,” Kevin confidently said. Wymack looked up at him, eyebrows raised in tired disbelief.

“One of my key players being turned into a wild fox isn’t going to hinder the team’s performance?”

“I’m not wild,” Neil protested. Everybody looked to him, staring incomprehensibly.

“He isn’t wild,” Rob tried to translate, but that didn’t help whatsoever. She and Neil exchanged glances, before looking back to Wymack. Wymack let out another deep sigh and looked between his Foxes.

“I hope you realize Neil can’t play like that. Moreover,” he said, “we have to keep it a secret from the committee board. I barely managed to convince them that having Rob, an actual fox, as our mascot was going to work. I can’t guarantee that for another fox.”

“No problemo, Coach,” Nicky lightly said. “We can keep a secret.”

Aaron snorted. “Yeah, right. You best of all.”

Nicky turned a sullen look to him, crossing his arms. “I’m a master of disguise. No secret I have known has ever slipped out.”

“Rob,” everyone said. Nicky opened his mouth to object, but then thought it over and begrudgingly leaned back in his seat.

“I’m being bullied, Coach,” he complained.

“And rightfully so,” Wymack said. Nicky gasped at him as a round of snickers went about the room. Wymack looked at Neil, and when he spoke, it was to him. “Until everything is fixed, I want you to lay low. Got it?”

Neil instantly nodded. Wymack’s eyes narrowed further in suspicion.

“Got it, Coach,” Neil said. Wymack seemed to understand the gesture if not the words, but he didn’t seem any less concerned than before. He turned his attention back to the rest of the room.

“We can get through this without mishap,” he said. If this were an anime, this was when the opening song’s instrumentals would be played. “I believe in you.”

Everybody looked very proud of themselves to hear that, filling with determination to make Wymack’s words true. Sometimes, though, determination wasn’t enough.

***

Things started going wrong sooner than anyone could imagine.

It was probably some kind of record.

It happened about five minutes after Wymack’s pep-talk. The Foxes spilled out of the stadium into the parking lot, Andrew walking behind Neil and Rob behind Andrew. That was when a stray reporter showed up.

“Quick, hide,” Rob hissed at Neil. But it was too late; the reporter spotted Neil the fox along with Andrew, behind him. Rob jumped into a bush out of instinct, escaping the reporter’s notice; that approached Neil, before shoving a microphone in Andrew’s face.

“Andrew, how is your team preparing for the start of this year’s exy season?”

Andrew merely bypassed him, not sparing him another glance. The reporter followed him. “Andrew! I see you’ve got your mascot here with you today. How is Rob doing?”

Andrew squared his shoulders and kept walking away, Neil right in front of him. The reporter followed, snapping a picture here and there, trying to catch view of both Andrew and the so-called ‘ _mascot_ ’.

It wasn’t long before the rest of the Foxes caught onto what was going on. Matt and Nicky were the first at the scene, trying to hide Neil from view, as if that would somehow erase the reporter’s memory of him.

“Andrew—“

But before the reporter could get in yet another question he wasn’t going to get an answer to, Neil weaseled in between Matt, Nicky and Andrew, and started barking vehemently at the reporter. The reporter stopped and looked down at him, a puzzled expression on his face.

“If you keep bothering him, for the love of _God_ I swear I’ll tear your head off your _shoulders_ —“

Neil barked this threat and others like it, but all the reporter heard, along with everyone else, was a series of angry barks and expressive expressions. Andrew softly facepalmed, sighing into his hand. Matt, Nicky and the rest of the Foxes, looking at the scene from different places, all had a hunch about what Neil was trying to say.

The reporter scratched the back of his neck, still looking down at Neil. Neil, on his part, was done, and now stood there panting and heaving, trying to regather his breath. Threatening to hurt, maim and potentially kill someone could get really taxing sometimes.

“Rob isn’t feeling well today,” Dan finally said, picking Neil up and slowly backing away from the reporter. Neil kept glaring at him, his ears flattened and eyes not wavering a millimetre from his face. “Please excuse her attitude.”

“I will not apologize,” Neil declared, even though it went over everybody’s heads. Dan carefully patted his head.

“Calm down, Neil,” she told him, lowering her voice. “Wymack literally _just_ told you to lay low.”

“I’ll lay low when this guy fucks off,” Neil replied. It came out as a rough gekker, and Dan patted his head again. She gave the reporter a fake smile. “Please excuse us. Also, you can’t be on the university’s premises like this.”

“I—“

“I suggest you leave,” said Andrew, turning a cold look to him. The reporter visibly swallowed and stepped back.

“You know, I’ve actually got this thing… at this place… anyway—“

And he bolted. The Foxes watched after him as he ran toward one of the high metal fences marking the premises, jumped up and over it, and proceeded to sprint away into the unknown. Horns blared and cats meowled, but he was gone from sight quickly enough.

Most of the Foxes let out a collective sigh.

“That was close,” Nicky said.

“Yeah, we got lucky,” agreed Allison.

Or so they thought.

“Oh, fuck.”

“What is it?” said Dan, leaning over to see what Allison was looking at. Allison turned the screen of the phone to her, and saw the moment Dan’s eyes widened. “Oh, fuck.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Matt, walking into the room. Allison and Dan both lifted hesitant eyes to him, making him halt and narrow his eyes. “Oh no. That can’t be good.”

“Neil’s been outed,” Allison said.

“Fucking _finally_ ,” Nicky said from where he was perched on one of the beanbags, annihilating Aaron in some co-op game.

“Not like that, you braindead idiot,” Allison snapped, turning the phone for Matt to see.

“Oh, fuck,” he said.

“We get it!” Aaron snapped at them, beating his controller into submission. “What do you mean, he’s _outed_?”

“She means that he’s trending on twitter,” Matt said. Nicky and Aaron both plunged off a cliff in the game, accidentally killing themselves, and turned startled eyes to him. “As a fox.”

“That’s bad,” Nicky said, voice too even to be alright inside. “That’s really, really bad.”

“It’s mostly conspiracies theories, though,” Allison said, looking down at her phone again with a contemplative expression on her face. “The guy we saw today posted Neil’s picture on twitter, but talked about him as if he were Rob. It’s the people that are all saying that he doesn’t really look like her at all.”

“That’s because he doesn’t,” Dan pointed out. Allison shrugged.

“But we _could_ get away with it,” she said, raising hopeful eyes to the rest of the room’s occupants. “All we have to do is make sure Neil and Rob are never seen together. People will think they’re going crazy, but hey, that isn’t really our problem, is it?”

“You cunning genius,” said Dan, face breaking into a grin. Allison grinned back at her.

“We’ve got this under control,” she assured them. But before anyone could agree or disagree with her, her phone suddenly rang.

She picked up, putting the phone on speaker. “Hi, Coach.”

“ _It hasn’t been_ two hours _,_ ” Wymack’s voice exclaimed, making everyone in the room cringe. “ _And I get a call from the board saying they can’t condone our possession of a secondary fox. Two hours!_ ”

“I swear we can fix this,” Allison said, bewildered. “All we have to do—“

“ _I already told them that picture was actually Rob_ ,” Wymack cut her off. “ _But that’s all I can do. You’re treading on thin ice. And tell Neil_ to lay low _, or I swear I’ll come and lock him in a padded room until he becomes human again._ ”

“Can you really do that?” Dan asked, voice concerned.

“I don’t think I want to find out,” Matt said. To the phone he said, “We’ll relay your message, Coach. Rest assured.”

“ _I’ll be assured when this is all over,_ ” Wymack sighed, sounding very tired indeed. A sympathetic look crossed all of their faces; what has he done to get involved in this mess?

“Thanks, Wymack,” Allison said. “And sorry.”

“ _Yeah, yeah, stay out of trouble. The last thing we need is a press scandal before Friday._ ”

The call ended. Everybody stared into space for a few moments, indiscernible expressions on their faces.

This was fine. Everything was fine.

Everything was under control.

***

“Andrew, this is ridiculous.”

“Defies all reason.”

“Absolutely ridiculous.”

“Kevin, you’ve said that already.”

Andrew watched through the rear-view mirror at the crammed backseat. Aaron sat by the window with his elbow perched against the door, glaring at the passing view; Nicky sat next to the other door, leaning forward and looking uncomfortable; and Kevin?

Kevin suffered.

Which was to say that he sat in the middle, crammed between Aaron and Nicky, looking awfully upset and repeatedly saying various phrases with the word _ridiculous_.

It was a pretty standard scene, in fact. They were always crammed in the backseat because Andrew always drove, if he were there to drive, and Neil always rode shotgun, if he were there to do that. And Neil was there alright.

Only he was much, much smaller than usual, which Nicky, Aaron and Kevin — _especially_ Kevin — all thought meant Andrew should let either Kevin or Nicky ride shotgun — “we’re both twice your length, Aaron, so you don’t get precedence” — while Neil rode in the back. But Andrew wasn’t having that.

He’s had enough changes for a month, at the very least. No need to change what there was no need to change, right? Especially when it was so entertaining.

“Neil takes up like half the seat. Even less!” Kevin exclaimed, exasperatedly throwing up his hands. Aaron and Nicky both had to shift to avoid getting accidentally punched in the face. “This is unjust. And completely ridiculous!”

“Sorry, I didn’t get that,” Andrew said. “Can you repeat it?”

“I said, it’s absolutely _ridiculous_ —“

“Oh for the love of God,” Aaron groaned, hitting his forehead against the window. “Kill me already.”

“I’ll see if I can get us in an accident,” Andrew told him. “And no, Kevin, you’re not moving to the front, so shut up.”

“But Neil—“

Neil barked at him from his throne, head peaking from behind the leather back of the seat. Kevin scowled at him and crossed his arms. “I hate you. I hope you know that.”

Neil, the little bastard, laughed at him. Andrew snorted and stopped the car as they reached a traffic jam, rolling the windows down for a quick smoke. There were quite a few cars in front of him, and it didn’t look like anybody was going anywhere in the next few minutes.

Neil barked at him as he lit the cigarette, and he turned to look at him. Neil sat on the edge of his seat, reaching his paw for him; Andrew blinked at him blankly, before a great idea sprang into his head.

Don’t worry, he wasn’t letting Neil smoke. He highly doubted nicotine was any good for foxes. What he did do was open the sunglasses compartment, reach over to Neil and perch his pair on top of Neil’s snout. Neil crinkled his nose, before grinning at him.

Andrew, still smoking his cigarette, proceeded to pull out his phone and take a selfie with Neil. He leaned his elbow against the rolled-down window, smoke trailing outside while he uploaded the picture to his instagram.

He was interrupted by a squeaky voice coming from outside. “Excuse me, sir.”

Andrew lifted his eyes to see a young, hesitant-looking cop looking down at him. He put the phone down on the dashboard and took a drag out of his cigarette. “What?”

The cop looked past him at Neil, who was still sporting fashionable sunglasses and looking back unblinkingly. Not that the cop could know that. “I couldn’t help but notice the, erm, fox in your passenger seat. I’m afraid you can’t ride around with foxes in your car, sir.”

Andrew followed the cop’s gaze to Neil, as if he were only now noticing him. He then looked back to the cop. “It’s my cat.”

The cop looked to Neil skeptically.

“Meow,” Neil said, but it came out as a distorted squeak that somehow resembled a person unconvincingly meowing more than anything else. Nicky snickered behind them, and they all heard the faint _thud_ as Kevin hit him.

“I’m afraid I’m not blind, sir,” said the cop, eyes flicking back to Andrew. He was pulling out a pen and a ticket-notebook from a pocket in his uniform. “I’m also afraid that’s illegal, sir.”

“I assure you, my cat has been acquired legally,” Andrew said, puffing out a thin trail of smoke. Nicky sounded like he was choking in the back, laughing but trying to keep it quiet. Aaron let out a long, tired sigh, while Kevin shushed them both.

“Sir, I can see that’s not a—“

“I would show you my legally-acquired cat’s adoption papers,” said Andrew, “but unfortunately, I don’t drive around with them. People usually don’t mistake my obviously-cat cat for other animals.”

The cop frowned at him, opening and closing his mouth. “But that’s not a—“

The traffic jam suddenly started breaking, and the car in front of them drove ahead. Andrew saluted the bewildered cop and followed, accelerating way too fast for it to be safe.

“Andrew, smile for the camera!” someone screamed from outside. Andrew flipped off the vague direction the scream came from, while Neil jumped from his own seat onto his lap, peaking his head out at the noise. There were excited screeches, a few loud, “oh my God!”’s, and then they were gone down the road.

Glancing at the rear-view mirror showed Nicky crying laughing, Kevin smirking and Aaron sighing deeply. Andrew pet Neil’s head with one hand without looking away from the road, and Neil contently purred.

***

“This is a _disaster_ ,” Dan proclaimed the next day, addressing everyone in the room, but mostly Neil and Andrew. “What the hell were you thinking!” she exclaimed, waving her phone in their direction. “Did you know you were being filmed? It’s on YouTube! It has more than _half a million views_!”

“Give it time,” Nicky said. “It’ll get more.”

“That’s exactly what we don’t need,” Matt told him. “Or want.”

Nicky scowled. “Speak for yourself.”

“Someone started a conspiracy blog, for _fuck’s sake_ ,” Dan exclaimed, pacing inside the room while scrolling up in her phone. “ _They say it’s Rob,_ ” she read out loud, “ _but with Andrew’s recent declaration that this is his cat, when everybody knows Rob’s a fox, we’re left to wonder whether it’s really Rob we’re talking about_.”

“So what?” said Allison, waving dismissively. “Let them conspire. It’s not like they can prove anything.”

“They have video evidence!”

“It’s too blurry to really tell,” Allison objected. “And Neil’s wearing sunglasses, on top of that.”

“For all matters and purposes, he might as well be a cat,” said Kevin.

“Or Rob,” said Allison. “Anyway, our original plan was pretending Neil _was_ Rob, so I don’t see a problem.”

“Somebody just uploaded a side-by-side comparison of Neil as a fox — thanks for taking a discriminating selfie, Andrew, thanks a lot — and Rob.” Dan lifted her eyes to the room’s occupants, whose expressions turned worried. Except for Andrew’s, of course. “People are realizing something’s going on.”

That was when someone knocked on the door. Everybody save Andrew turned to look at it.

“Who is it?” Matt reluctantly asked.

“Dark Rituals™ representative,” called out a voice. Andrew whipped his head to the door as everyone froze.

“They said a week,” Allison quietly said. “Didn’t they say a week?”

“Who cares?” Matt said. “We’re finally going to fix this!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Haven247 for the idea for the car scene <3 And of course thanks to everyone who commented! I appreciate it a lot.
> 
> As always, thank you guys for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next time: the exciting conclusion, in which nothing will go wrong. Definitely not. Smooth sailing ya'll. :) :) :)


	3. Chapter 3

Allison opened the door to see a young man standing at the threshold. He was wearing long, gray robes that looked slightly too large on him, their hems dragging on the floor, and wore a delivery cap reading, _Dark Rituals™._

He looked at Allison, eyes full of innocence. “Are you Perry Doofenshmirtz?”

Allison shot Aaron a flat look, and he only shrugged.

“No,” she told the Dark Rituals™ representative, pointing back at Aaron. “That’s him.”

The Dark Rituals™ representative turned his innocent eyes to Aaron, but before either he or Aaron could say anything, Andrew pushed past his twin brother, carrying Neil the fox in his arms. Both of them glared at the Dark Rituals™ representative, who blinked in alarm.

“Turn him back,” Andrew snapped, pushing past Allison and raising Neil in front of the representative. “Now. Or you won’t live to regret it.”

The Dark Rituals™ representative’s eyes widened and he stepped back, visibly gulping. “I’m here to perform fortune rituals. I don’t—“ he looked to Neil, who looked back at him in a very human-esc manner, which indeed seemed disconcerting on his fox-face. “Man, I only got out of training last week,” he rapidly said, lifting his eyes back to Andrew. “I only know how to do rituals for students. It’s the truth, man, I swear. I don’t know what’s wrong with your pet, but I can’t do anything about it.”

“It’s not my _pet_ ,” Andrew snapped. “It’s my—“

Andrew suddenly seemed to notice how everybody listened, very intently, to what he was saying, and he snapped his mouth shut with a scowl. Neil rolled his eyes.

“It’s our friend,” Matt supplied. “He used to be a person, until your cult kidnapped him and turned him into a fox.”

Neil nodded at the representative, who glanced between him, Matt and Andrew. “I can call my manager,” he said, hesitant. “If you want.”

“Do that,” Allison said. “And tell him to fix this.”

The Dark Rituals™ representative pulled out his phone and called his manager. “Boss? Yeah, hey boss— it’s me, Jerry— what do you mean, you don’t know any Jerries? I— yeah, yeah, _that_ Jerry. Listen, boss, I’ve got a job here and they want you to come and— no, yeah boss, I know you’re busy, but they’re—“

A sudden, long _beeeeeep_ sounded, and the Dark Rituals™ representative — Jerry — blinked and looked up at the expectant Foxes. “He hung up me.”

“Call him again,” Andrew said.

Jerry called his manager again, but before the phone picked up, Andrew let Neil jump down to the floor and grabbed the phone out of Jerry’s hand. He pulled him into the room, closed the door, locked it and leaned against it, before putting the phone to his ear.

Everybody, including Jerry, looked at him in the same expectant way as before.

“This is Jerry’s boss, yes?” Andrew drawled into the phone once the call picked up. “If you value your employee’s life, you’re going to come here, and you’re going to fix my boyfriend.”

Several Foxes grinned to themselves, including Neil, who barked approvingly at Andrew. Andrew gave him a flat look, before turning his attention back to Jerry’s manager.

He listened for a while before speaking again. “I’m not kidding. You can look me up, I’ve killed before. I’ll kill Jerry if you don’t fix this.”

Jerry paled into a sickly shade of white, and everybody, save Andrew, turned concerned looks to him. Jerry was clutching the edge of a table with a knuckle-white grip, his eyes occasionally shifting toward the window before fixing back on Andrew.

Andrew, who was frowning now. “What do you mean, I’ve got no criminal re—“ then his gaze fell on Aaron, and he sighed. Jerry’s manager thought he was speaking to Perry Doofenshmirtz — who, apparently, did not have a criminal record. “Forget about that. If you don’t come and fix the mess that _you_ made in the first place, you can bid Jerry here farewell, because he’s not coming back to work tomorrow.”

A sudden, long _beeeeeep_ came out of the phone. Andrew pulled it away from his ear, a detached expression on his face. He looked up to Jerry. “Your manager just hung up on me.”

Jerry paled several shades further.

“I’m sorry, buddy,” Matt sympathetically told him. “Your boss sucks. Maybe you should consider changing your job.”

Jerry didn’t respond, his eyes still fixed on Andrew. “Are you seriously going to kill me?”

Andrew threw Jerry’s phone on a nearby beanbag and stalked across the room. Jerry walked away when he approached, but Andrew only bypassed him, grabbed his own phone from where it was charging on the table, and walked back up to the door. “You’re going to show me where your cult’s headquarters are.”

“No way, man,” Jerry said. “I’ll get fired in a heartbeat.”

Andrew turned around and leveled him an even look. “Your boss just sentenced you to death. If I weren’t reasonable—“ Allison snorted, but Andrew ignored her— “then you would’ve gone kaput. It’s a cruel world, Jerry.”

Jerry opened his mouth to respond, but Andrew cut him off. “And don’t get me wrong. If you don’t help me, I won’t hesitate to stab you and throw you in the nearest dumpster.”

“He’s not kidding,” added Nicky. “He’s got a knife. Several of them, actually. I've tried telling him to get rid of them, but he’s a stubborn son of a bitch and—“

“Alright, alright,” Jerry interrupted, lifting his hands in surrender. “I’ll show you the headquarters. But I want a compensation.”

Andrew glared at him, and Jerry pulled back. “Or not. I can totally get by without one.” His eyes dropped slightly. “I guess I’ll sleep in a cardboard box for another night.”

“You do that,” Andrew dryly said, opening the door. “Neil, you’re coming with.”

Neil skittered across the room before launching himself onto Andrew’s back. Andrew stumbled, colorfully swearing as he grabbed the door to regain his balance; Neil laughed at him, put his paws on Andrew’s shoulders and smoothly transported himself onto Andrew’s hold. His fluffy red tail brushed against Andrew’s face as that scrambled to accommodate his needy transport expectations.

“That’s adorable,” Dan said.

“I’ve got a knife,” Andrew replied.

“You can’t stab anyone like this,” Renee said, gesturing at Andrew’s arms — which were full of fox. Andrew looked down at Neil, who looked back up at him, and scowled. “This is your fault,” he told him.

Neil barked back indignantly.

“He didn’t mean it, Neil,” Matt called out at him. “We all know you didn’t mean to get kidnapped.”

“Still his fault for being a murder magnet,” Andrew flatly said, walking out of the room. Jerry scrambled after him.

They weren’t gone five minutes when the rest of the Foxes exchanged resolute looks, and followed.

***

Neil recognized the building Jerry led them to. Even though it wasn’t raining, its size and creepy atmosphere remained intact; it was a plain, abandoned-looking building, gray and ugly and clearly the perfect choice for a dark and evil cult.

Neil, Andrew and Jerry all stood in front of the building, staring at it.

“We might as well just go in,” Neil said. Andrew and Jerry looked down at him; Neil stepped toward the building and turned back to them to express his meaning. Andrew grasped it, told Jerry to wait outside, and followed Neil.

They walked inside. The cult has cleaned up the mess Neil had made; the large space was lacking the chaos and cultists of the fateful, tragic night on which Neil had been turned, instead containing only a single desk. A girl wearing a tattered Dark Rituals™ cap sat hunched over it, writing something on one of the many papers scattered around her.

“Bring me your leader,” Neil said, but it came out as a bark. The girl startlingly looked up and glanced around, before her gaze fell on Neil the fox. Neil cussed, but that, too, sounded like a mere angry bark. Repeatedly being misunderstood was the most frustrating thing Neil’s ever gone through.

Or it was in the top five, at _least_.

Andrew skipped the pleasantries, pulled out a knife and advanced toward the startled girl. “Call your boss here.”

“H-h-he’s in a m-m-meeting,” she stammered out, fumbling with her papers, which went flying everywhere. “W-w-we don’t have a-a-any money, I swear, the company’s going bankrupt.”

Andrew blinked at her. “What company.”

“Dark Rituals™,” she stammered out, staring at him with wide, terrified eyes. Neil would’ve thought that the members of a cult wouldn’t be so easily intimidated — but he wasn’t here to criticize. He was here to avenge himself.

Andrew tucked his knife into his armband, which didn’t seem to reassure her whatsoever. “Explain.”

“W-w-what do you mean?”

Andrew leaned forward against the desk, and the girl pulled back roughly ten meters, her wooden chair scraping against the floor. “What is your end goal?”

“I don’t—“ the girl frowned. “To earn money, I guess.”

Andrew picked Neil the fox up and put him on the table in front of her. “Your boss kidnapped my boyfriend and turned him into a fox, and you’re saying that he did it for the money? Ransoming him would’ve been much easier, don’t you think?”

The girl shot him a look that managed to be both terrified and extremely judgmental. “Wait just a minute, sir.”

Andrew opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, she pulled out her phone and called someone. “Boss? I think I found your missing fox.” She was quiet for a few long seconds, intently listening. “Mhhm. It just walked in.” She fell quiet again. “No, there’s a guy here that claims to be its boyfriend.” Her eyes flicked up at Andrew, before focusing on middle-space again. “I don’t know, boss, some people are into weird— are you sure? Mhhm. Mhhm.” She looked up at Andrew again, who was staring at her with a narrow look that Neil deciphered as incredibly disgruntled. “No, I don’t think so.” She lowered her phone and said, to Andrew, “did you make an appointment?”

Andrew continued staring at her, as if uncomprehending. She lifted her phone to her ear again. “He didn’t, boss. Five minutes? Okay, I’ll tell them. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Bye.”

She hung up and put the phone face-down on the table. “He’ll be here in five minutes.”

They could do nothing but wait. Five minutes later, the robe-and-hat-wearing cultist walked in from a door behind the girl. His gaze instantly zeroed in on Neil, who was standing on the table and cautiously looking back.

“Wonderful, Sherry,” he told the girl. “You’ve just saved our company. Starting next month, you’re promoted.”

Sherry gave the guy a hesitant smile as he advanced forward. Neil snarled at him, aware of the way Andrew inched closer.

“Turn him back,” Andrew said, his voice just as menacing as his aura.

“No can do,” said the guy. Andrew put a hand on the table in front of Neil, protecting him in case the guy was to reach for him.

“Maybe you didn’t understand me,” he said, slow and deliberate. “I wasn’t asking.”

“Neil is our only hope,” said the guy. “Without his sacrifice, our entire organization will go down in flames. When you deal with magic as dark as we do, you can’t afford that. Not without condemning yourself to an eternity in Hell.”

“I really don’t care,” Andrew replied. “Turn him back _right now_ , or I’ll get you and all your friends a private meeting with the devil himself.”

The guy, however, didn’t seem intimidated. Neil guessed being the leader of an evil cult did that to a person. He did, however, pull out the spell book from his robes and started chanting at a record-speed.

Neil knew what was going to happen; he recognized the nonsense he was hearing. But neither he nor Andrew were fast enough to prevent what was about to unfold.

Just as the guy finished his chanting and a ray of white sparkles shot out of the book at Andrew, a commotion broke out behind them. Neil turned around in time to see Andrew tumbling to the floor, Aaron having pushed him out of the way — and then the spell hit Aaron.

There was a muffled _puff_ and Aaron was suddenly a white fox, falling to the ground.

Somebody screamed. Andrew stared in horror at his brother. Neil was only now noticing his friends lurking in the shadows, accompanied by a wide-eyed Jerry.

“Are you okay?” Neil finally asked Aaron. Aaron looked up at him in complete and utter terror, opening and closing his mouth without being able to say anything. Neil could understand. It was quiet the shock to turn into an entirely different form of existence.

“Fuck,” Aaron finally said, panic and despair pouring out of his very being. He circled himself before looking back up at Neil. “I’ve got my finals next week!”

“I know,” Neil said. He’d had the same concern when he’d been turned; but, he quickly realized, Aaron’s predicament was so much worse than his own. Neil wasn’t a med-student, after all.

“Turn me back!” Aaron screamed at the cultist, the fury of a hundred med-students echoing from his voice. “Turn me back right _fucking_ now! Turn me back!”

But all anyone but Neil could hear was furious barks.

Neil’s eyes flicked to Andrew, who was standing frozen with his hand holding the table. He wasn’t moving. Neil thought he might be in shock.

“Turn them back! I need them for the _match_!” Kevin shrieked from the shadows, springing forward. The cultist, starting to panic, chanted the verse in yet a new-record speed, and a sparkling ray of sparkles shot right at Kevin, hitting him square in the chest.

He turned into a fox and fell to the ground, letting out a squeaking shriek. Somebody screamed.

And then the Foxes hiding in the shadows started springing out, war cries and demands for amend leaving their mouths. One by one, ray after ray of sparkles, they were all turned into foxes, each as startled as the other.

It ended as suddenly as it’d started when Andrew leaped across the table, grabbed the spell-book out of the guy’s hands mid-chant, slammed it shut and hit it over the guy’s head so hard Neil heard something crack.

The guy dropped to the ground, and everyone stopped.

The Foxes all looked at Andrew, who was heaving with the closed spell-book in his hands, wide eyes fixed on the unconscious leader-guy.

“Andrew,” Neil said. Andrew looked to him, then glanced over the table at the seven additional foxes overflowing the ground.

The Dark Rituals™ employees were nowhere to be seen. It was only the Foxes and the leader-guy, and yet again, they had no way of fixing the catastrophe that has befallen them.

Andrew looked down at the spell-book in his hand, then back at the foxes. They all realized it at the same time.

The fate of them all rested on his shoulders.

***

“No, fuck you,” Andrew spat at Kevin, slamming the book shut so fast it almost squished the newly-fox Kevin’s snout. Kevin stared at him with scandalized eyes.

“I was just trying to help,” he said. Dan and Allison snickered from where they were sitting, watching as Andrew tried to decipher the spell-book.

They were all gathered back in Neil, Andrew and Kevin’s room. Pillows and blankets covered the floor, and the Foxes were scattered amongst them, some sitting, others lying, and a very disgruntled Kevin standing on all fours. Andrew was sitting cross-legged on one of the blankets, Neil perched on his lap and curiously looking into the spell-book — or he had been, until Kevin had invoked Andrew’s wrath.

“Go figure this out yourself, if you think you’re so smart,” Andrew told Kevin. Kevin’s bossy attitude translated incredibly well into barks, apparently. “I’m done with this.”

“As if,” Allison mockingly said from her pillow, lazily wagging her fluffy, beautiful tail. “He won’t be done until he can kiss Neil again.”

Neil shot her a dirty look. She stuck her tongue out at him in response, causing a round of foxy laughs rise around the room; Andrew looked between the foxes, anger and confusion battling for dominance on his face. It was a battle only Neil could see, seeing as he knew him better than anyone else.

Neil outstretched his paws and opened the book again to reveal the same nonsensical scribbling that he, Andrew and later Kevin had stared at before. It wasn’t any more comprehensible, which meant they still had no clue where to even start with dismantling this spell. And Kevin was adamant that they do this as soon as possible, because of tomorrow’s match.

“The team is in shambles,” Kevin said, peering over the book to see its contents again. “We’d be put at a game-changing disadvantage if we only lose tomorrow’s match. If we don’t show up?” He paused. “It’ll be the end of our careers.”

“Make it more dramatic, why don’t you,” Neil dryly said.

“Yeah, Kevin, the stakes aren’t high enough,” Nicky sardonically added. “Make it life or death.”

Kevin turned around to face the rest of the Foxes. “For me and Neil, it might as well be.”

The Foxes all paled. Except for Andrew, that is — who understood none of what was being said.

Kevin turned back around, walking around so that he could look into the book more easily. “We have to fix this. Today. And it’s not like we _can’t._ All we have to do is…” he looked at the incomprehensible scribbles. “Figure out this spell.”

***

At some point in the evening, the foxes fell asleep.

Except for Neil.

He was perched against Andrew’s side on his bed, curled into a ball with his tail drooping off the edge and his head on Andrew’s chest, peering into the book. Andrew was holding it open, but he wasn’t turning the pages anymore.

It was pretty late, but neither of them found themselves able to fall asleep.

“I thought I was dreaming, at first,” Andrew suddenly said, his voice soft against the quiet night. Neil looked up at him, his blue eyes focused and painfully familiar. Despite being a fox, Neil was still clearly _Neil_ , his fur as reddish as his hair, his eyes the same blue shade, his figure small and lean. Shouldn’t Andrew have recognized him when he’d first seen him? “No,” he corrected himself. “At first I thought you were gone again.”

Neil let out a small, sad bark.

“And then you came out of the woods and I realized I was dreaming,” Andrew continued, gaze drifting off. “Because that was just impossible. But you’re as impossible as it gets.”

Neil let out a protesting whine, and Andrew looked back to him to see him reaching out his paws. Andrew shifted upright, pulling Neil onto his lap and giving his head an absentminded stroke. Neil’s ear squished, the movement tilting his face sideways.

Andrew halted, his hand still on Neil’s head. His thumb brushed against Neil’s cheek, over the missing fur of the scar lines. “You weren’t supposed to do that anymore.”

Neil gave him an inquiring look, but Andrew didn’t elaborate. He leaned back instead, and Neil leaned into him, curling back into a ball on his chest.

He was near asleep when he heard Andrew mutter, “I don’t want you to stay like this.”

Neil nudged his nose against the crook of Andrew’s neck. Andrew’s eyes fluttered down to look at him, before he closed them.

They fell asleep like this, comforted by each other’s company.

***

Neil startled upright to yells, head hitting the bed over him. He swore, cowered and covered his head with his hand, only to belatedly freeze in his place.

He gingerly brushed his fingers against his hair, lifting his eyes up to the second bed above him. It was definitely closer than it had been yesterday. His eyes flicked back down, interlocking with Andrew’s.

Andrew was staring at him with an indecipherable emotion on his face. Neil stared back in confusion. The rest of the Foxes were barking and yelling at them, all, apparently, awake, and all requesting answers.

“You figured it out?” Neil finally asked, his voice coming out hoarse. He cleared his throat. Andrew shook his head.

“Then how…” Neil looked down at his hands, which were his usual, scarred, human hands. He flexed his fingers, closed his hand into a fist and opened it, and looked back up at Andrew. “It must’ve been what you said last night.”

Andrew skeptically narrowed his eyes. One of the foxes barked, and Neil turned to them, his face lighting up. “I know what we have to do to fix this!”

Everybody, for once, shared Andrew’s skeptical expression as Neil hopped off the bed and found his phone, immediately starting to send text after text to different contacts.

Andrew creeped up behind him, leaning over his shoulder to look at the screen. “What are you doing?”

Neil didn’t look up when he responded, instead closing one chat and opening another. “It was what you said last night. Would you have said it had I been in a normal state? No, of course not.” Andrew huffed at that. “Think Princess and the Frog. Beauty and the Beast.” At that he looked to Andrew.

“When did you have time to catch up on Disney movies,” Andrew flatly said.

“Allison,” Neil simply replied, and continued his texting. “A true-love gesture saved them, right? That’s what we have to do here. We have to get the people significant to them to… I don’t know, express their appreciation for them?” He cringed slightly at the cheesy way it came out. “Call Katelyn.”

A beat of silence had Neil looking up to Andrew to see him looking dead inside.

“You know what, I’ll do that,” he said after another beat. “You call Stephanie.”

At that, Andrew stirred.

From here on out, everything went smoothly. Or, at least, as smoothly as something like this could go. Dan and Matt had a foxy heart-to-heart, and fifteen minutes later, they both puffed back into humanity. Katelyn had gotten there at a record time, but had to see Dan and Matt’s transformation to be convinced that the white fox was, indeed, her boyfriend — at the realization of which she gathered him up in her arms and skittered out to spill her feelings. Andrew called Stephanie for Renee and put the phone on speaker in front of her, and after a motherly confession, Renee puffed back with her face wet.

Andrew banished Nicky and his phone to the kitchen when that face-timed Erik. Nicky reemerged half an hour later with heart-eyes and his face a blazing red, right in time for Wymack to arrive and collect his son. When Kevin walked back in, tall and human again, his face was embarrassed but somehow softer. Dan and Renee took Allison away for a girl talk, after which Allison walked out sniffling and hugging them.

All the while, Neil and Andrew sat on Neil’s bed and observed it all unfold.

When the Foxes, all back to normal and well, dispersed, Andrew tugged at Neil’s sleeve. “Come on.”

Neil followed him outside, and they walked up the stairs to the roof. The sun on the horizon was just beginning to rise, painting the dark sky with soft streaks of pastel. They sat down at the edge of the roof, in their usual place, and observed the sunrise in silence.

“Yes or no?” Andrew finally asked, his voice lacking emotion. Neil looked to him, a grin invading his features.

“It’s always yes with you,” he said, and pulled him into a kiss.

***

One could consider the fact that the Foxes played their next match a miracle; if you’d asked Neil, he would say it was only natural. Although if you’d asked him a little earlier, he probably would’ve insisted that them being foxes wouldn’t hinder their play _that_ much, so maybe he wasn’t the best person to ask.

Nevertheless, they played their game like the were supposed to, and, of course, they won it. They went out that night to celebrate their against-all-odds victory, nobody speaking of the week’s events.

Until Allison stumbled upon a picture someone had uploaded to instagram, and burst out laughing.

“What is it?” Dan asked, leaning in to see. A grin invaded her face, and she covered her mouth with the back of her hand to suppress her giggles. Renee leaned in as well, a serene smile lighting up her features.

“Let me see, let me see,” Nicky said, shoving his nose into the gossip. He barked out a laugh at what he saw and had to clutch the edge of the counter to not fall over. “Oh my God, Andrew’s never going to live this down.”

Now Neil had to see what they were talking about. When he leaned in to look, he was faced with a picture of a surprisingly sharp quality, displaying Andrew walking down a street with eight foxes surrounding him. The caption read, _Andrew’s new obsession, revealed?_

Neil burst out laughing. Later, he downloaded that picture to his phone and made it his lock-screen.

As for the cult — they haven’t heard from them again. The Foxes burned the spell-book behind Fox-Tower and left the remains there, choosing to believe the cult had called it quits before they’d have gone bankrupt — even though nobody could know for sure. Neil didn’t care. He was happy enough to forget all about them.

Sometimes, though, when he felt the blues stinging at him, he’d look at his lock-screen and remember the impossibility of the life he got to live. It was crazy, and bumpy, and uncertain. It was full of things he’d rather forget; but it was also riddled with things he wouldn’t ever trade for the world.

Like being a Fox. At heart, he knew, it was where he belonged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, ending things is HARD. But this was lots of fun! I hope you guys enjoyed this fic, and who knows, maybe one day I'll add another crazy installment to this series. For now though, thank you for reading <3


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